V Australia Air Lines

[sailingmickey]

Has anyone flown V Australia from Los Angles (or any US city) to Australia. We are considering booking with them instead of Qantas but are a bit concerned as we have not heard of them until recently.

 

Thank you in advance for any and all comments.:)

[Justgottago]

Hi Mickey

 

V is for Virgin. Think Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Music stores etc. V Australia is part of that stable. They have just launched the service and are offering deep discounts ti fill space. I would have no hesitation in flying them. We have flown their sister airline Pacific Blue between Sydney and Auckland (coming back from a cruise on Diamond Primcess) and it was fine. However it is a budget airline, check the fine print for baggage allowances, what meals and drinks are free and what you need to buy.

[pcur]

I have a Australian domestic flight booked with their sister airline, Virgin Blue, from Perth to Sydney. They do charge for baggage, which you should purchase when you buy your ticket, since it's a lot cheaper than at the airport. They also charge a credit card fee.

 

Our air Perth-SYD was $149 US (they charged us in AUD, so my figure is converted). If they charge in AUD, consider using a Capital One card, or another that does not charge an extra 3% for international purchases.

[The_Big_M]

V Australia is a fair bit different from its stablemate - I'm not sure it was a good marketing decision to associate the two as they have that budget image (perhaps that's why they went with V instead of Virgin).

 

If you check their website, you'll see inflight service should be comparable to Qantas and other premium airlines. No differences in service, amenities or luggage. The only difference I would note is that they only provide 1 alcholic drink in flight in economy... although alcohol's not so good when flying long distances anyway. I flew them recently and believe they have the best inflight entertainment system of anyone! They had about 40 movies to choose from, lots of music and inflight radio, plus a good chat system.

 

I would actually rate them one of the best worldwide for economy (but it is economy, so don't expect miracles ;-) ). As a personal choice, I would rate the journey above Qantas in economy. The only significant weakness imo were the meals, but they were still reasonable. There were other minor things like no inflight duty-free and limited newspapers/magazines onboard, but many have phased those out and/or they're not likely to make much difference to your travel.

[sailingmickey]

Thanks you to all of you for your input!!!! It is greatly appreciated!

[Australian family]

I wouldn't hesitate in using V Australia. Virgin have a good name here in Australia.

About time Qantas got some competition, and they are not as good as they used to be.

[Globaliser]

V Australia is a fair bit different from its stablemate - I'm not sure it was a good marketing decision to associate the two as they have that budget image (perhaps that's why they went with V instead of Virgin).

Thanks for the report about the airline.

 

One of the primary reasons why the airline's name has no "Virgin" in it is because the company is only allowed to use the "Virgin" brand for domestic flights within Australia. This is why no international flights are "Virgin" branded - instead, you have Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue, etc.

 

Given that the "V Australia" operation is a higher-quality frills-inclusive long-haul airline, there must have been more of a case for extending the franchise to allow "Virgin" to be used for that. But whether the company was not prepared to pay extra to use the name, or whether Virgin is leery of allowing the "Virgin" brand to be used by this operation, only insiders will know.

 

In the meantime, Branson lives up to his reputation for being wheeled out as a guest PR stunt to grin and/or mouth off as appropriate for the occasion, even when the business concerned is relatively tangentially related to "Virgin".

 

As you say there will be a marketing benefit within the Australian market because "Virgin" as an airline is associated with low-fare no-frills. But that's not the case in LA (or the wider US), where "Virgin"/airline brand penetration will be of the wacky/fun/young frills-inclusive image long associated in that market with Virgin Atlantic.